My pending application Ser. No. 07/481,492 filed Feb. 16, 1990 illustrates some of the types of reclosure means and containers where tampering or safety is a problem. In this disclosure, both permanent and pressure sensitive adhesives are taught to be useable. This copending application is also an improvement on U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,456 and the tamper evident strip thereof. The packaging industry has sought improved, more economical and easier to apply and remove closure means and means to indicate whether the container contents have been tampered with or have had their security breached. For instance, the soda pop and related bottle industry, produces bottles called twist-top bottles having a clamp-on cap with a skirt extending below a circular flange on the bottle. This skirt clamps down to lock the screw-on cap in place, until the skirt is severed or broken to permit the cap to be unscrewed to open the bottle. These type tamper indicators are generally metallic in nature in the prior art, whereas it will generally be plastic or paper in the present invention.
Another tamper or safety indicator used commercially is a heat shrink film that is placed on the closure means and the container after the container is filled and then heat shrunk to cause the film to essentially conform to the shape of the container and closure means to prevent the closure means from being removed until the film is severed or torn from the bottle. This severing of the film generally requires a tool or a knife to tear the film sufficient to get a hand hold to tear it off or to sever the film around the periphery of the single line between the exposed edge where the closure means and the container meet.
Frequently, this severing and tearing results in disfigurement of the labels or the label becomes unreadable, or partially or totally lost during the tearing operation. Another disadvantage of these closure systems is that the place to be severed may be hard to see for the elderly and also hard to tear or sever.
James A. Muscala's U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,456 provides an improved safety or tamper means for closing and labeling a bottle and cap assembly. This assembly has several disadvantages which are reduced or removed by the present invention. For example, in this invention there is no need to undercut the release member and have the release agent present under the tear strip, which is ungummed in the current invention. Also, in Muscala, where there is no removable portion of label on the cap, the opened tear strip distracts from the aesthetic appearance of the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,827,636 teaches an adhesive label for sealing packages which includes an uncoated tear strip with adhesive areas on both sides thereof, but there is no teaching or suggestion that the characteristics of the respective adhesive areas would be different or made compatible to the surfaces to which they are attached. There is no suggestions for any removability of a part of the label, and wherein such part could then perform another use such as being separately attached to a patients medical chart to positively show that prescription dosage pills were removed from the container and taken by the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,936 teaches an adhesive label with an ungummed removable tear strip, but again has no teaching or suggestion of making the adhesive compatible with the surface of the material to which it is attached, or that a portion has a removable peel strength so a portion of the label could be easily removed.
In conclusion, there is no convenient easy open strip to effect removal of the strip and also indicate evidence of tampering, and also have an adhesive system which is compatible to the surfaces to which it is attached.